Obesity discrimination: A case study on workers

Obesity is a health problem becoming widespread in recent years. Many policies are applied in the fight against obesity. Leading actors in the fight against obesity are governments, health institutions, non-governmental organisations, schools, retailers and employers. Workplace practices brought to life by employers are particularly significant due to the amount of time people spend at workplaces and the impact of body mass index on work efficiency. The goal of this study is to detect whether overweight individuals are exposed to discrimination at workplaces, identify the impact of obesity on worker efficiency, determine which weight management program might be supported to prevent obesity at workplaces and find out whether employers might function as an effective factor in the fight against obesity. A sample case study was carried out to achieve the goal of this study. Metal industry, a labour-incentive branch, was selected for the case study. Sequential explanatory pattern, one of the mixed method research patterns, was applied in the study. 526 people took part in the quantitative study. In the qualitative study, semi-structured face to face interviews were carried out with 15 people selected from the same sample and particularly defined as obese and morbid obese. Study validity is high as the responses of workers in the interview analysis are consistent with the responses given to the survey questions. Study results indicate that employees are not exposed to weight-based discrimination (obesity discrimination) in work processes such as recruitment, promotion, dismissal and income rise. On the other hand, workers experience efficiency loss due to their weight and are more vulnerable to work-related accidents. It was also concluded that workers were more motivated by particularly healthy food. Although employers are seen as an important actor in the fight against obesity, they are not seen that important when compared to other actors. The most preferred three workplace practices are free gym membership, holiday and bonus for each weight loss. It was observed that workers were willing to participate in trainings and weight loss programs given by workplace physicians. It was also seen that employers might play an active role in the fight against obesity with the weight management programs in the workplace. Workers' attitude to workplace practices are affected by their age, professional experience and educational status. In the context of age group variable, it was observed that monetary incentive to lose weight would motivate workers at the 25-34 age group to work more than other groups. Similar to the age group variable, it was observed that workers with 15 years or longer experience used less workplace facilities for a healthier life. According to the analysis results for educational status variable; as educational status increases, there is a decrease in the perception that the state fights effectively with obesity.